Story+1988-05-23+New+York+City,+NY

´´Starting to feel like summer out there today...(?) thunderstorm.....and lightning in New York City...how about rain ? that´s nice....I like this time of the year, I like....we get days like this, they kind of sneak up on you and make you feel, makes you feel like summer....and when you get those days when it´s like real clear...and the air´s real crisp and thin....and people start coming out and start walking everyplace....makes you feel, uh....like something´s changing, makes you feel like doing something....oh, and the girls leave all their winter clothes home....oh yeah....take the top down and (?) a little bit, take that first ride, you know ....yeah...see all them mommies out there with their little babies in the stroller....that´s when I like to take a walk in the park ....see if any of my old friends are still hanging around....hey man, yo ! (chuckles) how you doing ? alright....good to see you.... (?) some of this weather, huh ? yeah, it´s nice.....what´ve you been doing ? what you, I ain´t seen you in a long time.... you don´t call me up, you should call me up, I should call you up (chuckles) what do you got ? oh ! oh yeah ! got the Big Man´s latest project, the little Big Man....he´s got his own shades, his own saxophone, he knows how to play it too, he´s three years old, he´s got his own apartment.....drives his own car already....got his own suit, you know, and his sunglasses (chuckles) and almost, almost as handsome as his dad....yeah, he looks good....he looks, oh (?) man, I remember, I remember I was with you the night you met your wife, you know....see, I went, I went through all of Clarence´s girlfriends with him, you know, I´d hear all about it and I was like his love counsellor or something, you know....(chuckles ) you know, he´d always come knocking on my room saying ´Bruce, you know, I just met the girl I´m gonna marry, I´m in love´, you know, ´I´m sure, I´m sure this time, I´m sure´....and so one night we were out at this party and this girl comes walking in....the first thing, I know when Clarence is serious ´cause the first thing he does is he runs right into the bathroom.... and he checks himself out in the mirror and he puts on like patchuli oil or something, something that he used to wear (chuckles) and uh....and then he comes out and, you know, he goes to the bar and he´s trying to be real nonchalant, you know....be real suave....and I listen to him talking, you know, and I (chuckles) I can tell he has on what I call his love-face....that´s the face that like, that´s when he´s being like a whole lot nicer than he really is in real life....´Oh, yes, honey, anything you want, baby....whatever you wanna do´ (chuckles) (?) she was nice, you got married on top of that vulcano and I was your best man, you know ....he didn´t wanna do the usual thing, he wanted to get married in Hawaii, he got married on top of this big vulcano....early in the morning and we was almost late, that´s because the guy´s name that married Clarence was Clarence, you know, I don´t know....remember how you felt when she came walking in that room and you´d see her coming down ? back in Jersey, it feels kind of like this (Miami Horns start singing)....oh yeah....man, I remember we used to stay out till like four a.m all the time ?....oh man, we used to stay out all night, go ´round jamming everyplace....wanna do that again ? wanna do that tonight ? (?) ....and bring your horn, bring your horn, alright, see you later.....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´**

´´How you doing out there tonight ? (cheers)....yeah....how´s everybody in the backseats now ? (cheers) you alright back there ? (cheers)....that´s good....was this, uh.....fella and this girl ....they met in a little shot-and-beer bar down along the coast....and uh....oh, it was in the summertime....and he was a house painter, he was.....I guess he was in his early 20´s....and he was just kind of, you know, making his money and spending it on the weekend....just enjoying himself, looking for some fun....and she was a little bit older....and she´d been around a little bit and I guess she was looking to settle down, looking for somebody that she could love and somebody who´d love her.... and they met in this little bar and they, they got along real good, he was real sweet-tempered, kind of gentle, telling, you know, stupid jokes all the time, keeping her in a good mood....and uh....winter came along and they, they moved into a little garage apartment about two blocks in off the beach....had a few rooms and a neat porch....you know....it was nice, it was nice....and uh, she got pregnant, he saved his money for the first time and they made plans to be married, he went down and saved his dough, bought her a ring, came home and surprised her with it....and she went and picked out a dress and told her mama and her papa....and then I guess something happened....maybe he was a little on the young side....but as it got closer and as they got closer, he got, he got afraid and he took off on her....but she never really let him go, she kept him in her mind and she kept him in her heart and he saw his face in the day and she left his things where they were....and when she got in bed at night, she thought of him....and the only problem was that he wasn´t ever ever coming back....and so the world took that old dream and it broke her heart with it over and over again every day because there comes a time when you gotta take that past, no matter how much you love it, and you gotta put it away...and so this is a song about a woman struggling to understand the value of her own independent existence....and the value of the life of her baby, her child....trying to take those things in her past that hold her down, put them away and to find something new and beautiful and strong and meaningful in her life now....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Spare Parts´**

´´It starts when you´re a little bitty baby....crawling across that floor....heading for something you like....that telephone, that television set....reaching out, your mom says ´Now, don´t touch that thing....you can look at it but don´t touch that thing´....and then you ride into the department store....see that little display case with all them toys inside, you´re walking up to it and the saleslady says ´Son, don´t touch that....you stand back like a nice boy and look at it´...I remember going out on my date with my girlfriend when I was in high school....and she said ´Please, don´t touch that thing....you can look at it but you can´t touch it´....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´You Can Look´**

´´Is there anybody alive out there tonight ? (cheers) is there anybody that can feel the living, breathing spirit in their hearts out there tonight ? (cheers)....that´s good....because I wanna know....do we have any rough, any tough, any ready-to.rumble New York City men out there tonight ? (cheers) I wanna see your hands, boys....do we have any macho New Jersey men out there tonight ? (cheers) let me see you North Jersey boys, come on....big tough guys.... well, I've known some tough guys that would swim rivers and climb mountains....then wrestle with the beasts of the jungle....but there was something that they was afraid of.... there was something that scared them to death....and I´m gonna tell you what thing it was.... what I´m talking about L-U-V, I'm talking about love....love scared them to death....when they felt love in their hearts, they ran away like little babies back to their mommies....am I talking about you ?....is this your story ?....now, do we have any brave, courageous New York City women out there tonight ? (cheers) do we have any sweet, liberated, sexy Jersey girls out there tonight ? (cheers) come on, let me hear you, girls....because I'm talking to you too....I´ve known women.....that when they got next to love....they ran back home, when they felt love in their hearts, when they felt it finally get down in their souls, they got frightened, they got scared and they ran away....from that thing that they loved....but I´m not down here pointing any fingers tonight....because I´ve got a confession of my own that I´ve got to make ....and I wanna say is I have sinned !....and I don´t need no Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me, baby.....he can kiss my ass....and that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell can kiss my ass twice, baby....because I´m a brave man....yes I am, yes I am.... but what I´ve got to confess to is.... that I'm a coward when it comes to love...."
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´I´m a Coward´**

´´Well, now, there seems to be a dispute about whether we descended from Adam and Eve.... the Garden of Eden....of whether we, uh.....well, let me tell you a story I read in the papers ....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Part Man Part Monkey´**

´´Here´s a song I wrote about 15 years ago....I was just 24, I was living in Long Branch....oh, man, I felt, I felt pretty ready, I guess....it was in the afternoon and it took me a long time to write this song....I always say that this song is kind of like my birthday song, you know ....I spent quite a few months thinking about what I wanted to say....and how I wanted to say it and the stuff that I asked myself in this song 15 years ago, the questions....they´re the questions that I´ve been chasing down the answers to ever since....and uh....when I wrote it, I guess I thought I, I took this guy and this girl and I put ´em in a car....and uh....I guess they thought that they wanted to run and keep on running....that was a nice, that was a nice romantic idea (?) but as I got older I realised that you run out of road too fast....and after putting all those people in all those cars, I realised that I´d put myself in with ´em....and that if I didn´t find someplace for them to go, I wasn´t gonna know where I was going....and so I sang this through the years, it kind of opened up, I said ´Well....maybe they´re out there looking, looking for some connection´....(?) which I always think, I guess I think that´s mainly what I´m doing here tonight, it´s what you guys are down here for....(?) but in the end, people crashing into each other....and looking into each other´s eyes is what....is what it comes down to, I guess....so anyway, that guy and that girl, they drove and they drove and they drove and they were looking for something that they´d call ´home´....and as I got older, I realised that home was not over the next hill, that it wasn´t in the town that I was born in and it wasn´t up the street but that it was buried deep down inside of me....and if I was brave enough and courageous enough and....if I wasn´t scared, I might be able to find it, find a little piece of it, hold on to it a little bit....so I´d like to do this for you tonight wishing you all love, home and happiness....and uh, here´s to your guts....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Born to Run´**

´´(?)....is there anybody out there tonight that needs a little love in their hearts ? (cheers) is there anybody out there that needs a little personal attention ? (cheers) is there anybody out there not getting enough respect at home ? (cheers)....alright....(?) I´ve come three thousand miles, I´m a man with a mission....and I want you to know....I want you to know....that my motto is....´Have Love Will Travel´....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Have Love Will Travel´**

´´It ain´t over, it ain´t over....it ain´t over till the band stops playing and you can go home, baby...(?)....this ain´t no show, kid, this is your life.....and I got a question I wanna ask you .....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Sweet Soul Music´**

´´(?) you ain´t got it, man....you ain´t got it, you can´t handle it, man....it´s late and Monday night, you gotta get up and go to work tomorrow...you gotta get up and go to school tomorrow....are you talking to me ? (cheers) I just worked my ass off for three hours, you better talk louder than that, baby ! (cheers) are you ready for a little religious liberation ? (cheers) are you ready for a little spiritual affirmation ? (cheers) are you ready for a little sexual consummation ? (cheers) well, then just raise your hand, people....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Raise Your Hand´**

´´Thanks so much, I wanna thank everybody for coming down to these shows we did here in New York City, it´s great to be back at the Garden....I wanna thank all you folks from Jersey ....the crowds down here every night have been fantastic, we´ve got one more to send you home with....I´d like to take a second and thank the crew that´s worked with me on this tour of the States (?)...I´d like to do this for them, tell ´em thank you very much....thank you so much, I´d like to thank Jon and Barbara and so many other people and I´d like to thank the boys and the girls in the band....”
 * 23.05.88 New York City, NY, intro to ´Lonely Teardrops´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//